1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for detecting radiation-induced damage to a biomaterial using a magnetic sensor, and a magnetic sensor biochip for biodosimetry using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A biochip is a dense, two-dimensional grid of biosensors including DNAs, antibodies, ligands, and the like which are typically deposited on a flat passive or active substrate, such as glass, plastic, etc. Biochips are largely divided into genotyping chips for detecting specific genes; gene expression chips for examining an expression pattern of genes associated with specific diseases; and microfluidic chips for detecting the presence and/or reaction of biologically active substances in fluid biosamples such as blood, urine, etc. Given an active substrate that consists of, for example, integrated electronics, the microchip can also automatically analyze various information including gene and protein information detected by the deposited biosensors on a large scale, and rapidly and readily detect the presence and/or function of biologically active substances such as DNA, antibodies, ligands, etc. In recent years, biochips have actively found applications in various fields including gene and protein research, medicines, agriculture, foods, environments, and chemical industries.
Dosimeters, particularly, radiation dosimeters measure cumulative exposure to radiation over a period of time. Representative among the radiation dosimeters are physical and biological dosimeters. A physical dosimeter utilizes the ionizing effect of radiation, while a biodosimeter measures the influence of radiation on organisms by analyzing, for example, blood taken from an organism exposed to radiation.
A physical dosimeter, which is a device designed to utilize electronic equipment to determine the amount of radiation emitted from a source of ionizing radiation, can accurately measure an absorbed dose, that is, an amount of energy imparted to matter by ionizing radiation, in real time. There are various commercially available products of physical dosimeters including film badges, glass dosimeters, thermolumenescence dosimeters, and pocket dosimeters. Because a physical dosimeter is directly irrelevant to an organism exposed to radiation, it cannot inform the effect of radiation on the organism. In contrast, a biodosimeter, a device designed to analyze blood or cells of a radiation-exposed organism, can explain the effect of radiation on the organism, but suffers from the disadvantage of requiring a lot of time for analysis, with the following consequent problems. Self recovery may take place during the analysis, making it difficult to accurately determine the degree of radiation exposure. In addition, because the biological effect of radiation is measured a certain time after radiation exposure, there is a controversy with regard to whether the biological change analyzed is attributed to radiation or other factors. Accordingly, active research has recently been directed towards the development of various biodosimeters as solutions to the above-mentioned problems. For example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010-0144558 discloses a biodosimeter for measuring expression levels of genes depending on radiation dose. This biodosimeter targets changes in gene expression of blood, but cannot measure radiation-induced changes of biomaterials themselves, that is, DNA damage, white cell counts, etc.
As such, few biodosimeters capable of accurately measuring the change of biomaterials by radiation exposure have been developed thus far, and there is therefore pressing need for such a biodosimeter.